the pop box

This is a grapple, actually it's four of them. They are the offspring of an apple mated with a grape. Isn't it amazingly horrific? They smell SO GOOD. Sweet grapes, nature's bounty.

But no, they have the crunch of an apple, and I just don't like apples!

- POP by Appas, Guest Blogger

On our way out of a party in Alphabet City last night, we headed for our favorite drunk pizza joint only to discover that it had closed down. Fortunately, there was a strange surprise just down the block: on the sidewalk, a Navajo blanket was covered in a GIANT pile of wrapped candies.

Irene ran up to the pile, and in a bear-hug motion, scooped up about 25 of them and ran across Avenue A. A small man sat just out of the way and calmly watched the action. There was no money exchanged, but somehow that was fine.

We ducked into another pizza place and examined the loot. The wrappers came in two designs: one, a sexual Jungle Book knockoff; the other, two fat Swiss children frolicking in the hills. On the back, Russian writing and little feet.

After very little deliberation, I popped one of those suckers open and ate it. The first layer was a bland, waxey coat of chocolate. Inside, stale wafers were sandwiched between a sweet, frothy brown cream. About ten seconds into the chewing, an intensely soapy aftertaste kicked in. That aftertaste then lingered for another few minutes, becoming "fragrant," then "bitter" and "painful."
- POP by J

In high school, we used to sit around at the Chinese restaurant and mispronounce all the food names and laugh hysterically. There was this one restaurant in the Manoa Shopping Center called Szechwan Lei Lei and we used to call it “S-zetchuan” or “the S-zetch.”

We sometimes ventured further, and South Street Philadelphia seemed bold and exotic. I don’t remember obtaining this receipt, but I am fairly certain Blair and I bought these bumper stickers together. We probably stuck both of them on some old lady’s car in the Shopping Center parking lot.

- POP by J

I used to really like Snapple. You could say, obsessively. When I was in middle school, I worked at a bagel shop in a local farmers market. We sold Snapple and I drank it like water. I even wore a hip Snapple bomber jacket that we got for free.

I thought that someday, I would meet “The Snapple Lady” AKA Wendy Kaufman. I had a grand plan: I started saving the labels from the bottles and the caps, with the intention to some day build something so cool that it would get me a spot in one of Wendy’s commercials. Sadly, I never did get to meet Wendy, but a friend of mine did and he got me this autographed picture AND a bobble-head doll. It turns out Wendy thinks I’m the “best stuff on earth” too!

Oh and if you’re wondering what ever happened to Wendy, get this. According to Wikipedia, she was unceremoniously fired from the company in 1994 when Snapple was sold to Quaker Oats (douche bags). We then lived for three years without her until she was reinstated in 1997 when the company was sold yet again. More recently, you may have seen her on Celebrity Fit Club (twice) and also heard about her new business venture, Wendy Wear – “Fit for A Queen Size.” Yes, it’s activewear for plus-size women.

Wendy says, “Just because I like to eat, doesn’t mean I should be destined to a lifetime of wearing sequined pumpkins and appliquéd kites on my clothing.”

The Philadelphia City Paper has a regular column called Culture Shock: Things That Matter to People Who Matter. Each week, they ask a “somebody” from Philly to write a little blurb about something they love. Sometimes these columns are highly amusing. Take the article to the right.

The owner of this restaurant is also the designer of this postcard. He explained the concept to me: The old woman is thinking about a cheeseburger. The old man is thinking about a sexy young woman eating a fry.

Vivian found this place, which isn't much of a surprise. The Burger Joint has $1.50 burgers that are very tasty.

- POP by J